Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Select Braden Bristo, Option Taj Bradley

By Steve Adams | April 13, 2023 at 9:24am CDT

The Rays announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Braden Bristo from Triple-A Durham and optioned top pitching prospect Taj Bradley, who made his MLB debut against the Red Sox, back to Durham in his place. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred righty Shane Baz from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Baz is recovering from September’s Tommy John surgery and could miss the entire season, so his move to the 60-day IL was a formality.

If the 28-year-old Bristo makes it into a game with the Rays, it’ll mark his big league debut after an eight-year minor league journey. The longtime Yankees farmhand was New York’s 23rd-round selection back in 2016, and he spent the next seven years climbing the ranks in their system. Bristo topped out at Triple-A in 2021-22 and never made it to the Majors with the Yanks, however. He elected minor league free agency at the end of the 2022 campaign.

In five innings with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham thus far, Bristo has yielded three runs on six hits with an appealing 7-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’s had little problem missing bats in parts of three Triple-A seasons overall, fanning a strong 27.3% of his opponents. His 12.8% walk rate in Triple-A, however, is far more concerning. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen has previously noted Bristo’s high-spin curveball and a heater that can reach the mid-90s in short stints, but command has been an issue for Bristo in the upper minors — at least until this season. It’s a tiny sample, of course, but Bristo has walked just one of his 22 opponents so far.

For now, Bristo will give the Rays an extra arm in the ’pen. Tampa Bay used Jalen Beeks as an opener in a bullpen game on Monday, and their ’pen has covered a combined eight innings in the two games since.

Bradley won’t be able to return to the Majors for at least 10 days unless he’s recalled in place of someone who’s being placed on the injured list. Barring that scenario, yesterday’s MLB debut will go down as a spot start for Bradley, who ranks among the sport’s top 50 overall prospects. He tossed five innings against Boston and allowed three runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Braden Bristo Shane Baz Taj Bradley

The Opener: Rays, Twins, Brewers
Main
MLB Agency Update
View Comments (22)
Post a Comment

22 Comments

  1. DCartrow

    2 years ago

    Bristo should just be up for a cup of coffee

    1
    Reply
    • AdmiralPatton

      2 years ago

      Does he have time to grab a pastry too?

      6
      Reply
    • Ham Fighter

      2 years ago

      And a DFA

      Reply
  2. joeyrocafella

    2 years ago

    Why not just keep Taj up as a starter instead of sending him back down for another pitcher

    Reply
    • Paleobros

      2 years ago

      Rays doing Rays things

      Reply
    • BrandonGregory74

      2 years ago

      Holding down service time.

      3
      Reply
      • GareBear

        2 years ago

        Or they want a bullpen arm and deem that more important than an extra starter for the next couple of weeks. They taxed their bullpen this week and need some rested arms in the pen.

        12
        Reply
        • alwaysgo4two

          2 years ago

          You are correct. Bradley could be back after the 10 days while getting another start in AAA. Glasnow isn’t far away anyway and Eflins stint is expected to be short. An embarrassment of riches.

          1
          Reply
      • mlb fan

        2 years ago

        Bradley won’t be able to pitch for a few days and the Rays are swapping him out for a pitcher who will. It’s pretty much standard operating procedure for MLB.

        9
        Reply
      • mlb fan

        2 years ago

        “Holding down service time” They say ignorance is bliss; is this true?

        1
        Reply
    • balloonknots

      2 years ago

      The rays have used 9 relievers in last 2 games. Further taxing bullpen is a day game today before weekend series. Fresh arms is more of a need as other experienced starters can come up of need be next week. They way they have used Taj so far seems to show they will limit his innings early on anyway so that he gas bullets available for the 2nd half of season.

      3
      Reply
    • hiflew

      2 years ago

      Because Bradley can’t pitch for another 4 days. This way, they can bring up a reliever that can be useful for the next few days.

      3
      Reply
    • Prospectnvstr

      2 years ago

      As stated in the article, the bullpen has put in some serious work as of late & can use a fresh arm in the ‘pen.

      1
      Reply
  3. Idosteroids

    2 years ago

    I remember the hype around the Archer trade for Glasnow, Baz, and Meadows….fast forward years later…its unreal how injury plagued those three have been in their careers.

    1
    Reply
    • CleaverGreene

      2 years ago

      Four. Archer hasn’t been a picture of health.

      2
      Reply
  4. Old York

    2 years ago

    Good. Guy pitched terribly. 8 Ks in 5 innings and an ERA+ of 80? I was expecting more like a perfect game with 27Ks. Get back to the minors and season yourself up.

    /s

    1
    Reply
  5. Ace_

    2 years ago

    They’re 12-0 now.

    Reply
  6. Libpwnr

    2 years ago

    PSA to anyone in charge that reads these comments; you have browser hijacking ads running on your pages. Might want to fix that.

    Reply
  7. Paleobros

    2 years ago

    After just seeing Springs come out of his start, Taj might be back up sooner than we thought:/

    1
    Reply
  8. nitnontu

    2 years ago

    Didn’t take long for Bristo to get into his first MLB game! Very solid debut

    Reply
  9. GarryHarris

    2 years ago

    The Rays pen is gassed. They nearly blew their big lead. They need a starter or two to go deep.

    Reply
  10. leftykoufax

    2 years ago

    The Ray’s churn out quality pitchers like an assembly line.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

    Padres To Activate Yu Darvish On Monday

    Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

    Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

    Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

    Details On Bryan Reynolds’ Limited No-Trade Protection

    Tigers Select PJ Poulin

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version